For four hours and five roller-coaster minutes yesterday the University of Nevada football team played a Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl game that looked a lot like its remarkable season as a whole.

And when it was over, decided by a point-after-kick attempt that sailed inches wide right in overtime for a 49-48 victory over Central Florida, Wolf Pack coach Chris Ault took off his cap, ran a hand over his scalp, took a deep breath and reflected on the deja vu of it all.

"I think that's exactly the way the season went for us," Ault said. "That's a very good analogy."

Indeed, this postseason exclamation point on a 9-3 campaign pretty much summed up the whole rags-to-riches season for the Western Athletic Conference co-champions.

Maybe that's why the Wolf Pack was at its best under the pressure and glare of the moment. Beating then-nationally ranked Fresno State in what, heretofore has been called the biggest win in Nevada history, had to have helped see the Wolf Pack through what it encountered yesterday.

A season that started awkwardly enough with a 55-21 loss to Washington State in September found a joyous conclusion at Aloha Stadium.

A year that began with the Wolf Pack struggling to pick up a new offense, The Pistol, ended with Nevada putting up 623 yards total offense.

The Wolf Pack didn't exactly open this game with promise, either, falling behind 14-0 in the first six minutes on two four-play drives, and 17-7 in the first quarter. The Golden Knights ran the ball at will.

"I think you look (at the start of the game) and say they don't look very good and, then, we start to look pretty good," Ault said.

With a 21-point second quarter and 14-point fourth quarter, the Wolf Pack looked very good before the national cable audience.

"The thing is these kids have a big heart," said Nevada assistant coach Kim McCloud, a former Hawai'i player and assistant. "They do what it takes to win."

And yesterday against Central Florida, owner of the third-largest single-season turnaround in NCAA Division I-A history, it took a lot.

It required the first tandem 100-yard rushing game of the season by Nevada running backs. B.J. Mitchell, the WAC offensive player of the year, ran for 178 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries and Robert Hubbard managed 126 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries.

It took a 22-of-32, 254-yard passing performance by quarterback Jeff Rowe, and 11 catches for 114 yards by Kamehameha Schools graduate Caleb Spencer. The 11 receptions tied a Hawai'i Bowl record.

The Wolf Pack was scheduled to leave last night, hours after its Hawai'i Bowl triumph. Nevada wouldn't need a movie on the flight, though. In the bowl game and season as a whole, it has lived an entertaining tale on its own.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.